ἑκών

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *weḱ- (“to choose, want”). According to Beekes, the term derives from a lost present verb *ϝέκμι (*wékmi), itself perhaps from a present verb equivalent to Sanskrit vaṣṭi (“to will”) and Hittite [Term?] (/⁠wekkmi⁠/, “to want, desire”).^[1] The LIV suggests that the Hittite and Greek forms derive from a single Narten-type present *wḗḱ-ti whereas the Sanskrit form supposedly—according to the LIV—derives from an athematic root present.^[2]

Akin to Old Armenian վասն (vasn, “for the sake of”) and Old Persian 𐎺𐏁𐎴𐎠 (vašnā, “thanks to”).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /he.kɔ̌ːn/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /(h)eˈkon/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /eˈkon/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /eˈkon/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /eˈkon/

Adjective

ἑκών • (hekṓn) m (feminine ἑκοῦσα, neuter ἑκόν); first/third declension

willing
Antonym: ἄκων (ákōn)

Inflection

First and third declension of ἑκών; ἑκοῦσᾰ; ἑκόν (Attic)

Number	Singular			Dual			Plural
Case/Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	ἑκών hekṓn	ἑκοῦσᾰ hekoûsă	ἑκόν hekón	ἑκόντε hekónte	ἑκούσᾱ hekoúsā	ἑκόντε hekónte	ἑκόντες hekóntes	ἑκοῦσαι hekoûsai	ἑκόντᾰ hekóntă
Genitive	ἑκόντος hekóntos	ἑκούσης hekoúsēs	ἑκόντος hekóntos	ἑκόντοιν hekóntoin	ἑκούσαιν hekoúsain	ἑκόντοιν hekóntoin	ἑκόντων hekóntōn	ἑκουσῶν hekousôn	ἑκόντων hekóntōn
Dative	ἑκόντῐ hekóntĭ	ἑκούσῃ hekoúsēi	ἑκόντῐ hekóntĭ	ἑκόντοιν hekóntoin	ἑκούσαιν hekoúsain	ἑκόντοιν hekóntoin	ἑκοῦσῐ ἑκοῦσῐν hekoûsĭ(n)	ἑκούσαις hekoúsais	ἑκοῦσῐ ἑκοῦσῐν hekoûsĭ(n)
Accusative	ἑκόντᾰ hekóntă	ἑκοῦσᾰν hekoûsăn	ἑκόν hekón	ἑκόντε hekónte	ἑκούσᾱ hekoúsā	ἑκόντε hekónte	ἑκόντᾰς hekóntăs	ἑκούσᾱς hekoúsās	ἑκόντᾰ hekóntă
Vocative	ἑκών hekṓn	ἑκοῦσᾰ hekoûsă	ἑκόν hekón	ἑκόντε hekónte	ἑκούσᾱ hekoúsā	ἑκόντε hekónte	ἑκόντες hekóntes	ἑκοῦσαι hekoûsai	ἑκόντᾰ hekóntă
Derived forms	Adverb			Comparative			Superlative
Derived forms	ἑκόντως hekóntōs			—			—
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “ἑκών”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 400
^ Rix, Helmut, editor (2001), “*u̯ek̑-”, in Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben [Lexicon of Indo-European Verbs] (in German), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, →ISBN, pages 672-673

“ἑκών”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“ἑκών”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“ἑκών”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
ἑκών in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
ἑκών in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
ἑκών in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2026)
“ἑκών”, in Slater, William J. (1969), Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
G1635 in Strong, James (1979), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- cheerfully idem, page 128.
- consciously idem, page 162.
- free will idem, page 343.
- glad idem, page 360.
- grace idem, page 368.
- help idem, page 395.
- intentionally idem, page 449.
- joyfully idem, page 464.
- knowingly idem, page 472.
- murmur idem, page 547.
- own idem, page 587.
- unasked idem, page 907.
- unsolicited idem, page 932.
- voluntarily idem, page 956.
- voluntary idem, page 956.
- willing idem, page 979.
Chantraine, Pierre (1968–1980), “ἑκών”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque (in French), Paris: Klincksieck, page 331
Frisk, Hjalmar (1972), “ἑκών”, in Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume III, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, page 84

[1] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “ἑκών”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 400

[2] Rix, Helmut, editor (2001), “*u̯ek̑-”, in Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben [Lexicon of Indo-European Verbs] (in German), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, →ISBN, pages 672-673

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